Gavin Bond2022910Hamiltons90

2020Central Saint Martins / CSM1988CSMJohn GallianoAlexander McQueenStella McCartneyHussein ChalayanGiles DeaconKatie Grand

The IndependentMarion Hume19933John WolfordVivienne Westwood94Caf Society

Gucci John Galliano Karl Lagerfeld Christian LacroixValentinoVersace112

Carla BruniCindy CrawfordChristy TurlingtonClaudia SchifferKate MossLinda EvangelistaNaomi CampbellVanity FairVogueElleMarie ClaireRolling StoneBritish GQ35

50’being there

Christie’sSotheby’sPhilippe Garner

Gavin Bond: Being Theredelves into the photographers archive, showcasing countless notorious fashion moments. Bond rediscovered this extensive collection of images during lockdown 2020; they took him back to when he was a young fashion student at the prestigious Central Saint Martins. In 1988, Bond enrolled at CSM, alongside notable alumni John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Hussein Chalayan, Giles Deacon and legendary stylist Katie Grand. As a fashion student, Bond was invited to attend London Fashion Week, it was here that he got unfettered access to dive head first, with his camera, into the wild world of backstage fashion shows.

Bond was soon attracting the attention of key fashion editors. Marion Hume of The Independent, became an early and ongoing champion, commissioning his engaging backstage shots for shows in Paris and Milan as well as London. John Wolford, arranged for him to shoot backstage at Vivienne Westwoods Anglomania show in March 1993. He was backstage again to shoot at the presentation of Westwoods celebrated Spring 1994 Caf Society collection.The punk queen turned grande dameof British fashion liked Bonds pictures so much she used a montage of them to produce a promotional fold-out poster that became, as Bond says, a great calling card.

To capture the action backstage Bond kept his technique simple, he shot quickly and unobtrusively using only available light. The shallow depth of field served effectively to capture what was going on in front of him may that be a fleeting glimpse of the designer or a flurry of dresses as the models marched down the runway dressed in Gucci and Galliano, Lagerfeld and Lacroix, Valentino and Versace. In order to work fast, he limited his exposure options adjusting only the aperture according to the distance. He recalls how each roll of film only had 12 frames so every shot had to be considered.

Bond was able to document, with his own distinct reportage style, this remarkable period of pop culture, fashion history and what was the era of the Supermodels Carla, Cindy, Christy, Claudia, Kate, Linda, Naomi, and their memorable sisterhood. His unique insight into the exclusive world of high fashion saw him contribute to publications such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire & Rolling Stone. A regular contributor to British GQ for whom he has shot over 35 covers. Bond now finds himself in the world of entertainment photography, capturing marketing & publicity campaigns for all the major film studios worldwide.

Hamiltons exhibition features a unique grid comprising of approximately 50 gelatin silver prints arranged to emulate the feeling of being there backstage. This incredible installation will be paired alongside a selection of large format, editioned, gelatin silver prints which are on view for the first time.

This book featuresa foreword by Christy Turlington, and an introduction to the book written by Philippe Garner, the illustrious one-time Director of Photographs at Christies and Sothebys.Also featured inside are the photographs of the designers at work, preparing the looks behind the scenes, nervously awaiting their own walk-on at the end of the show. See overleaf as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen attend to details, while Yves Saint Laurent deals with a headache.